PDA

View Full Version : Dumb Question re Grizzly River



mowsluver
11-10-2006, 08:50 AM
Every time we have gone on GRR we have always gotten wet--I mean really wet!!
Do they have 'control' of the water/ride so that in the cooler season, people don't get as wet?

Lekta
11-10-2006, 08:54 AM
I have read that they do turn it down a bit when it gets colder. I think they lower the water level or something of that nature.

DisneyFanKat
11-10-2006, 08:59 AM
I haven't really read or heard anything about it... I've been going to DCA since it opened (Passholder preview night - yay!) but only went on the River Run for the FIRST time this past weekend! I think I never went on it before because I've always seen people get soaked - and I'm either there in the evening and don't wanna be wet....or I've worn jeans and do NOT like wet jeans! :)

Anyway - for my first time - I barely got wet...I didn't sit near an opening in the seating (where you get on and off the raft) - and I think that helped - my friends who were right by the opening got wetter than I did. :p

We also went pretty early in the day, in the first hour of the park being open, so I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it (maybe they turned up the water level a little later in the morning - or afternoon - when it got much warmer?)...

Thought it was a great ride though! I shouldn't have waited SOOOO long to ride it!

Bytebear
11-10-2006, 09:01 AM
I believe that if you go in the morning, you will get more wet that later in the day. This is true for Splash Mountain as well. They water level is at it's peak in the morning when none of it has splashed out, or evaporated, so you are more likely to get wet then. Also, they do crank down the water on cooler days, but it could just be bad luck, hitting that geyser at the end of the ride, or getting a good wave at just the right time.

mowsluver
11-10-2006, 09:17 AM
Thanks! I asked because some friends went a couple of weeks ago and said that they hardly got wet. They have been in the summer and have gotten SOAKED, no matter where they sat, so I was just wondering!:D

BGLeduc
11-10-2006, 09:33 AM
One of the Travel Channel Disney specials that I Tivo said that they do have a summer/winter switch on GRR.

FWIW.

Brian

Malcon10t
11-10-2006, 09:37 AM
I think its all a matter of luck. I've gone and gotten totally soaked, and ridden when everyone but me got soaked. I've sat by the door and stayed somewhat dry and sat in the middle and gotten drenched. I don't ride when I wont be able to handle being a little wet, and I hope not to be soaked.

kisroo
11-10-2006, 09:38 AM
One of the Travel Channel Disney specials that I Tivo said that they do have a summer/winter switch on GRR.

I thought I had heard this, too. It seems like they do that for Splash as well but, I only have my own personal experience to back it up. I do know that I've gotten soaked a bit more since the "new" logs went in at Splash.

Either way, I only go on GRR with my "gear". Summer or winter. ;)

~kisroo:)

bradk
11-10-2006, 09:41 AM
it's always been 50/50 for me on whitewater raft rides. it's just luck of the draw. i've been on rafts where others are soaked and i'm barely touched, or vice-versa.

AFAIK, that seasonal switch controls things like additional sprays when being pulled up the chain and things like that.

but thinking about it, i think being towards the front of splash mountain is the most i've ever gotten soaked on a ride. even riding GRR 3x in a row didn't really compete with that.

BGLeduc
11-10-2006, 12:25 PM
I think its all a matter of luck. I've gone and gotten totally soaked, and ridden when everyone but me got soaked. I've sat by the door and stayed somewhat dry and sat in the middle and gotten drenched. I don't ride when I wont be able to handle being a little wet, and I hope not to be soaked.

I have not done GRR yet, but recently road Kali River Rapids at AK, and it surely is luck in terms of how wet you will get. At Kali, if you are at the front of the raft for the big drop, you are getting drenched, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. When the raft hits the bottom, a huge wall of water goes straight up, and then straight back down on the front 1/3 of the raft.

I was very lucky on both my rides to not get totally soaked.

But I like the sign in the queue; You WILL get Wet. You MAY get Soaked. How true. I am looking forward to finally riding GRR on my next trip to DLR.

Brian

bradk
11-10-2006, 12:30 PM
isn't there a sign right before the big drop that warns you not to continue or has some very grave message on it or something to that effect? looks like i never got a photo of it, but i vaguely remember something

Barbossa
11-10-2006, 12:57 PM
May I recommend wearing Crocs when riding GRR. If your feet get wet, no biggie! :)

jcruise86
11-10-2006, 01:22 PM
May I recommend wearing Crocs when riding GRR. If your feet get wet, no biggie!
And to be really unpopular in a fun Disney villain kind of way, get emergency ponchos (79-89 cents in Target's camping dept.) and put them on while you are in line. People might boo you good-naturedly, but you can respond, "Envy not my genius!"

I went on with a bunch of family members and I pulled two out of my back pocket--one for me and one for my dad. He was glad, and it was fun gloating around my other relatives. If you are more evil than me, you might have even more fun just bringing one emergency poncho for yourself. You will get a laugh. Just be sure to put it on in line along with an expression of superiority--the reactions you get are entertaining.

WITron
11-10-2006, 10:41 PM
I was a CM when Splash Mountain first opened and got to ride it before the general public and many times after park hours that first summer and we used to get drenched. Now you don't get nearly as wet as back then.

dznyphreak
11-10-2006, 11:17 PM
isn't there a sign right before the big drop that warns you not to continue or has some very grave message on it or something to that effect? looks like i never got a photo of it, but i vaguely remember something
It's something to the tune of marking the class of the rapids (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), each being crossed out in succession. After five is crossed out, it says something like "Don't even think about it!"

And I know for a fact that they don't always run the geyser at the end. Sometimes you'll plow right through it and other times it turns off just before you get there.

Rapunzelthorn
11-10-2006, 11:28 PM
We went to Disneyland in early October. I saw people coming off GRR just before CA closed and they were DRENCHED! Last year when we went on it we used camping ponchos. I don't think that I would ride without them, personally. They are a really good idea if you buy them outside the park and bring them along.

gailirene
11-11-2006, 08:57 AM
I'm with the poncho crowd and got that tip from this website. I didn't feel like being soaked; yes, I did get "ribbed" a bit for it when I put it on while on the line. But it was all good-natured!!! There were some on line who were quite envious. Knowing that we had done the water rides for our trip, we decided to see if anyone would want out 99 cent ponchos when we got off.. So we held them up and asked. Let me tell ya -- there were LOADS of volunteers to take them!!!

Gail

jcruise86
11-11-2006, 12:08 PM
I'm with the poncho crowd and got that tip from this website. I didn't feel like being soaked; yes, I did get "ribbed" a bit for it when I put it on while on the line. But it was all good-natured!!! There were some on line who were quite envious. Knowing that we had done the water rides for our trip, we decided to see if anyone would want out 99 cent ponchos when we got off.. So we held them up and asked. Let me tell ya -- there were LOADS of volunteers to take them!!!

Gail
I hold a quick auction and usually get $3.
Just kidding.
I'll continue your free poncho tradition next time.

splash
11-11-2006, 12:42 PM
Then one would argue... Why are you riding the ride, if you don't want to get wet. Don't the poncho's sort of defeat the experience? Just a thought

jcruise86
11-11-2006, 02:18 PM
... Why are you riding the ride, if you don't want to get wet. Don't the poncho's sort of defeat the experience?. . .
1. You still get a little wet.
2. It's fun just moving on and looking at the attraction.
3. It's really fun when the people on your raft get wet and you don't. (Is that shaddenfreude or freudenshade or ??? Since they aren't really suffering it doesn't really fit with that theory.)
4. It's fun to interact with the people in line when they see you with a poncho.
5. If it's 90 degrees out you won't see many ponchos. I got drenched on the back of Splash Mtn. when the temperature outside was about room temperature and the next 20 minutes or so were less comfortable.

DCACM
11-14-2006, 07:05 AM
There is no "Winter/Summer" switch for GRR. The water elvels and amount of splashing in the river is the same no matter what time of year/day you ride.
The only modifications to the ride regarding the water/weather are:

1. leaky pipes on lift ramp turned off on colder days.
2. geysers turned down on windy days.

These are controlled by the "Tower" CM, and aren't always utilized when they should be.

Ms.Pecks
11-14-2006, 01:26 PM
I think the weight of the raft has a lot to do with how wet you get. This past Sat. night me and my 7 year old daughter were the only ones on the raft and barely got wet. We asked if we could go one more time(there was no one in line at the time) and we still hardly got wet.